In June this year, the NQBA sent a representative team to Adelaide for the 2002 Australian National Broomball Championships.

The team, by all accounts, had a good tournament, with good showings in all competitions. The NQBA represented the entirety of Queensland at the National Championships, and did the Sunshine State proud, finishing equal second in the Mixed competition (out of nine teams). Our girls also did very well, combining with the ACT team to win the Women's competition. They finished fourth overall out of seventeen teams at the Championships.

Just to show that the NQBA is as good as any other broomball organisation in Australia, our very own Leanne McCormack was selected for the All-Star Broomball Team at the Nationals. Way to go Leanne!

PLAYER PROFILES OF THE TEAM

(NB: All player stats are accurate as of before the competition)

Kate has many years of experience, unfortunately none relate to broomball! She mortgaged her house and bought her way onto the Queensland team to go to the Nationals. What she lacks in skill, she makes up for in commitment and enthusiasm. Although Kate does not have a favourite position that she is willing to make public, she seems to spend most of her time on the ice on her butt!

 

Sam has been with NQBA for close to 5 years. In that time he's represented North Queensland in the 1999 Championships and Queensland in 2000. While he does not play a favourite position as such, Sam spends most of his time on the wing as a forward. He is the youngest player on our team and has already been aged well beyond his youth by team tactics.

 

Scott ‘Doc’ Edwards was born long, long ago (1958) in a country far, far away (Canada) and was raised on Galaxy bars. Doc has 30 years of ice hockey experience. He started playing broomball four months ago and has taken to it easily as only a Canadian can. Other hobbies include gardening and trying to sample a bottle of all Australian made wines.

 

Pete came to the sport though a school match in the mid 90’s. He soon found his niche as goalie and has become an invaluable asset to the NQBA. He has participated in two National Championships, Townsville 1999 and Canberra 2000. Of a weekend Pete can be found coaching the juniors and promoting broomball to the wider community. A good team player and all round good guy when medicated.

 

Robert has been made to play broomball for 10 years past his bedtime. A slow learner, he has still not learnt that playing broomball is dangerous and should only be attempted by skilled practitioners.  He can sometimes hit the ball and sometimes run with it but is usually unable to do both.  Robert’s first Championship tournament was Townsville 1999. He has played in all of them since simply because we couldn’t get him off the bus.

 

Her sister introduced Leanne to broomball in 1996.  After playing a few seasons in Canberra and a National Championship in Sydney, Leanne moved to sunny North Queensland where she thought getting on the ice would be a nice reprieve from the heat.  Little did she know she’d become a broomball battle-axe having to compete with the like-minded locals for chill time.

 

This was the little boy whose report card said: "does not play well with others". Shows some potential for the sport. With coaching could even rise to the position of Bag Bearer. Steve has participated in several Championships. He graduated from The School of Hard Knock and for his pains was awarded MVP while playing for the NSW Mens1 team at the 2001 Championships.

 

Rowdy is new to the sport, having only played a few games. His skills and balance have improved considerably since purchasing bunny slippers. For Rowdy the Championships are rites of passage. No available stats at this time, unless you count unforced errors and inaccurate passing/shooting stats.

 

Team Captain and patriarch of NQBA. Norm has been playing broomball as a contact sport since the blood and guts days of the mid 80’s. Referees heaved a sigh of relief when he took a 5-year break from the game in the early 90’s. Norm will insist on playing like a 20-year-old year after year and has only become keener and meaner with age. A very focused player.

 

A blond bombshell bruiser from the old days. Marilla took a wrong turn on the way to the bottle shop and found herself instead in the ice rink. She has a background in ice hockey that eventually led to a tryst with broomball. Marilla has a mean defensive attitude. This will be her first National Championships.